The 10 Commandments of Selling Your Home for TOP Dollar

If You Are Breaking One of These 10 Commandments Your Home May Not Be Selling for Its Full Potential

1. Thou Salt Not Market Your Home With Lousy Photos

Over 90% of Realtors do not use professional photography for their listings.  There are a surprising amount of bad photos on the MLS.  Bad pictures can be the kiss of death when trying to sell a home for its full potential.  Make sure you only allow your home to be marketed with photos taken by a professional.

The pictures below are taken from the new listing posted today on the Utah MLS.  These are otherwise nice homes with poor quality pictures.  Don't let this happen to you.

2. Thou Salt Not Submit Your Home Into The MLS Without Pictures

A surprising number of homes are initially submitted into the MLS without pictures.  We have all see the “Images Coming Soon” to newly listed homes for sale.  Your home has the most interest when it is just listed but the interest is very limited without the home’s photos.  Sometimes the photos do not show up for 3, 4 or more days after the home has been placed for sale on the Realtor’s MLS.  Do not allow your home to be put in the local MLS without the photos.

3. Thou Salt Not Do Single Party Listings

It is almost never in your best interest to do a single party listing with a buyer. I have talked with many potential sellers in the past and many have told me that they are not really interested in listing their home for sale on the MLS but if I know of a buyer that is interested that they would be willing to sell.  This may be a way to get your home sold but rarely does it bring TOP DOLLAR.  Getting top dollar requires your home to be marketed to the most qualified buyers as possible all at the same time.  The MLS is the most important marketing tool available to you to help your home sell for the most money possible.

4. Thou Shalt Not Sell Your Home in 1 Day

People really love the idea of selling their home in ONE day.  Many agent will advertise the fact that they listed and sold a home in 1, 2 or 3 days.  Is this really in the best interest of selling a home for “Top Dollar”? Usually when a home sells in a very sort time period the buyer is able to purchase a home below market value. More days on the market means a little more work for you and your agent but usually results in a higher sales price. The best way to prevent your home from underselling from too few days on the market in a competitive market is to advertise on the MLS that offers will not be reviewed by the seller until a date 3 to 5 days after the initial listing date. 

5. Thou Shalt Hire a Professional Showing Service

What is a professional showing service?  A professional showing service coordinates all home showings with the buyer’s agent.  Let’s face it realtors are often busy and cannot always answer their phone.  When a buyer’s agent call to show a home and cannot get ahold of the listing agent it makes showing the home inconvenient and in some cases the showing is never arranged. With a professional showing service calls are never missed and a buyer’s agent can easily set up a showing. The more showings = more interested buyers =  more offers = higher offer price

6. Thou Shalt Not Over List or Under List Your Home

Setting the BEST list price for your home cannot be over emphasized.  If your home is listed for sale at a price too high or too low based on sound information, chances are your home will have a hard time selling for “Top Dollar”.  Homes that are drastically overpriced tend to miss out on the initial excitement a new listing brings to the market and once a home get aged on the market it tends to get a negative stigma that can be hard to overcome.  Underpricing a home can produce a very quick sale but usually the home will sell below market value, even with multiple offers.  When determining a list price for your home, look at the market data provided by an experienced Realtor objectively. 

7. Thou Shalt Not Rely on Zillow

Zillow offers many interesting and fun tools but the information is often outdated and unreliable. Do not rely on Zillow or any other automated home valuation services to determine your home’s value or list price.  This is the job of an experienced Realtor with reliable information obtained from your local MLS, the Realtor’s database.  

8. Thou Shalt Not List Your Home with a Friend or Relative Who Is Otherwise Unqualified

Selling a home for the most money possible takes the efforts of a full time experienced Realtor.  You need an agent that has the right knowledge, tools, strategy and systems in place to make the most out of your home’s potential.

9. Thou Shalt Not Enter Into a Long Term Listing Contract

It is important for your Realtor to feel you are committed to them as your listing agent so they will spend the money and resources to properly market your home.  At the same time you should be able to cancel a listing if the listing agent fails to deliver on their promises.  In most markets a 90-day listing agreement is appropriate.  If you are selling a luxury home a longer commitment may be justified.

10. Thou Shalt Consider Our Services

If you are in Salt Lake or Utah Counties we would love the opportunity to further discuss our real estate services.  I have over 15 years experience selling residential real estate and I would love to help you reach your goals. Call Scott Rozier 801-471-9443 at your earliest convenience.

So What Type of a Home can you Buy in Utah for One Million Dollars?

If you are living in the Bay Area of California you may know a million dollars will only purchase a modest home in many communities.  Watch Flip it to Win It on A&E and you will soon realize that a million dollars does not buy much in most Bay Area communities.  So what kind of home will a million dollars buy you in Utah?

It can very depending on the city and neighborhood.  Park City is Utah most expensive city in Utah to buy a home in with several Utah County homes offering the best value on the Wasatch Front.

Below are several links to the million dollar listings in each community.  Just click on each to view the million dollar homes for sale 

Million Dollar Utah Homes

Salt Lake City

Draper

Sandy

Cottonwood Heights

Park City

Lehi

Mapleton

Provo

Orem

Alpine

So What is Your Utah Home Value?

Today most people tend to use Zillow to get an idea of their home's value.  While this tool can be useful there are certain drawbacks that you need to be aware of before relying on it to price your home when selling.  I recently showed a home in Salt Lake City Utah that was listed for sale-by-owner and the list price was at the Zillow value.  In my opinion Zillow undervalued this home by about 5% to 10%.  Why did this occur?  Remember Zillow tends to rise the value of the undesirable homes in the neighborhood while lowering the value of the neighborhoods most desirable homes.  How does this happen.  It assumes all homes in an area are equal just some are larger and some are newer.  It does not distingish between the "Toyota Tercel home", or the "Toyota Camry home" or the "Lexus home".  To automated valuations all homes are "Toyota" so to speak.  

Automated Home Valuations are not the Most Reliable

When selling my last home Zillow undervalued the home by more than $150,000 of what I actually sold it for.  My home was a custom home on 2 acres that was 100% landscaped in an area near tract construction homes that Zillow or any computer generated value would have an impossible time giving a reliable valuation.  On the other side of the coin I just listed a home that Zillow valued at $422,000 where the real value is closer to $380,000. It is a tract home with several same model match homes that have sold in area with none selling over $385,000.  This home is located near some custom homes with similar square footage that are superior but the automated valuation cannot distinguish the difference so it values the home too high.  In Utah it is very common for homes to very significantly in value within the same neighborhood. 

So why Does a Reliable Home Valuation Matter?

Well it doesn't unless you are wanting to sell.  If you underprice your home when selling there is a good chance you are leaving money on the table that could be in your pocket.  If you overprice your home you may miss your chance to make a good impression on the market and your listing may get aged and market stale.  Everybody seems to be the most interested in the newest listings.  Understanding your home's value "sweet spot" is as important as marketing your home.

Automated valuations should only be used to give you an idea of value and never relied upon for establishing a list price when selling.  To determine your home's value you really need to seek the opinion of an experienced Realtor.  That is where I come in.  I am a Realtor with years of experience that can help you accurately determine your home best list price and probable sales price.  You can contact me by phone at 801-471-9443, text, email: rozierrealtygroup@gmail.com or on my website at www.UtahRealtyGroup.com. My name is Scott Rozier and I want to be your Realtor.

So What Are Utah's Best Cities to Live In?

Provo Utah Ranked #1 in USA for Best Overall Well Being

In a gallup poll released March 25th 2014 Provo Utah ranked first for overall well being.  More than 500,000 people across the country were interviewed and Provo topped the list of almost 200 cities.  Some of the criteria used to determine well being were do people feel safe in their neighborhoods, do they like their jobs, and do they feel healthy.  For more information see the article in USA Today.

According to the United States Census Bureau there are 2,855,287 people living in Utah as of 2012 with approximately 2/3 of Utah's population living between Ogden and Spanish Fork along the Wasatch front. There are literally dozens of cities so which are Utah's best?

Most recently CNNMoney.com ranked 3 Utah cities in the top 50 cities in America to live in.  These cities included Farmington at 14th, Draper at 25th, and Linden at 29th. So is Farmington the best city in Utah to live in?  I don't think most people in Utah would agree that Farmington is the best city in Utah to live in however it does have a lot going for it. It received praise for his close location for commuters to Salt Lake City and its outdoorsy charm as well as its 200 million Station Park Development, office space, housing, stores and many restaurants. Additionally Farmington has good public schools and low crime. Farmington has approximately 20,000 residents and is part of a larger metropolitan area just north of Salt Lake City. The median home price in Farmington is $281,047 as of 2012.

The city of Draper ranks 25th on CNNMoney.com's list of the best cities to live in America. Draper is certainly one of the best cities in Utah to live in. In my opinion the Draper\Sandy area is Utah's best area to live in for several reasons including, close proximity to Salt Lake City as well as its proximity to the Provo/Orem area. It is located within 30 minutes from 7 ski resorts including Snowbird, Alta, Brighton, Solitude, Park City, The Canyons & Deer Valley. This area also boasts some of Utah's finest dining with several restaurants, eateries, fast casual and fast food establishments. The ski resorts bring in millions and millions of dollars each year to the local economy. Residents have outdoor activities on all sides of them with easy access to the Jordan River Parkway to the West and Corner Canyon to the east with opportunities for hiking, biking and horseback riding. Draper's big employers include 1-800 Contacts and an eBay campus.

Linden which ranked 29th on CNNMoney's.com list is located just north of Provo-Orem metro area.  Linden is certainly not one of Utah's most recognized cities and probably shouldn't be with a population of just over 10,000 people but it is making noise for all the right reasons. Linden is home to 2 large tech companies, Tele-performance at USA and Symantec and has one of the lowest unemployment rates of 4.5% in the entire United States. Linden came in at #1 on the list of ease of living.

According to Outside Magazine 2013, Park City Is the Best Town in America. According to the magazine, there is no better blend of small-town friendliness, absurdly easy access and five-star culture than Park city Utah. On the downside it's a rather expensive when compared to most other communities in Utah. The median price home for a condo is over $400,000 and the median price home in Park City is $765,600 as of 2012. If you cannot afford to live there it is a great city to visit. It has very easy access to both downtown Salt Lake City and the Salt Lake City international Airport. Both are less than a 30 minute drive from Park City. In my opinion Park city has something magical about it. Whenever I visit Park City it always feels like Christmas regardless of the time of year. Park city offers great scenery, miles of biking and hiking trails, 3 world-class ski resorts, lots of open space and parks.

If you are looking for a great city in Utah to buy a home or condo please reach out to us by phone at 1-801-471-9443, email: rozierrealtygroup@gmail.com or visit us online at www.UtahRealtyGroup.com

After just over a year of research and work the official website for Half Price Realty Brokers has gone live.  The website can be viewed at www.UtahRealtyBrokers.com.  It is the website's goal to provide a single point of access to every home available for sale on the Utah MLS.  When selecting a web design company to team up with it was important to us to that the listings were displayed quickly, updated daily with accurate information, easy to navigate, intuitive, informative and that the overall user experience was enjoyable.  We believe we have met our goals and that you will find our Utah real estate site to be one of the best available for searching Utah real estate.

Some of the features that we feel are most helpful when searching for a home are street views, interactive maps, schedule showings online, days since last price reduction and amount of last price reduction.  Additionally you can easily create a "basket" of saved properties for later review as well as automatic email updates should the price of a saved property change.  

It is easy to create as many saved searches as you like by inputting the criteria of your choice including location, price, style, schools, bedroom count etc. and have automatic email updates sent to you as properties come for sale matching your criteria including any price changes. Try it out!  Our goal is to try to make it as easy as possible for you to find the perfect home and access to good and reliable information is the KEY.  We are always here to help, answer questions and give advice.  Feel free to give our site a spin and then please give us your feedback.